Select Local Merchants

The cooks at George's Gyro carve thin slices of gyro meat from rotating spits to serve with soft pitas or stacked atop the George's burger between layers of bacon and barbecue sauce. The menu also stars such staples as the maxwell street polish under a mountain of grilled onions and the italian beef smothered with hot peppers and cheese. Sides from fried okra to house-made french fries perfectly complement meals, much like yellow mustard perfectly complements purple ketchup.

Simplicity and quality meet in The Full Slab's choice-cut meats, which absorb the rich flavors of house-made marinades, six barbecue sauces, and hand-blended dry rubs. The aroma of flame-smacked, made-from-scratch pulled pork, brisket, and ribs, as well as seafood and pasta plates, fills the eatery. Diners can also take in a game on one of The Full Slab's big-screen TVs while enjoying a hand-crafted cocktail or cold beer from its well-stocked bar.

Every month, Sweet Tomatoes rolls out a new roster of fresh-made eats—including many vegetarian and gluten-free selections—in its wholesome buffet. Simmering soups bubble with vegetables and savory chicken, alongside tossed salads tumbling with crisp produce, much like an Ent in a washing machine. On Sunday mornings, plates fill with comforting breakfast classics such as belgian waffles and scrambled eggs.

Jimano's Pizzeria's deft dough-tossers craft homemade crusts, succulent sauces, and pies layered with fresh ingredients for an oven-fresh menu of Chicago-style pizzas. Top a thin-crust cheese pizza ($15.80 for a 16") or piñata-pack a pan-baked deep-dish cheese pizza ($17.95 for a 16") with a panoply of ingredients, such as pepperoni, mushrooms, bacon, or pineapple ($2.10 per ingredient for a 16" pizza), ensuring that modest pizzas don't have to arrive at the table undressed. Cooks also create stacked delights such as the italian beef ($5.85) or the crispy buffalo chicken sandwich ($5.99); baby back ribs ($16.99 for a full slab, $14.99 for a half slab) offer carnivorous sustenance coated in a homemade St. Louis–style barbecue sauce. The pizzeria's famed bread sticks ($3.99) satisfy carb cravings alongside a slew of pasta dishes, which arrive with sides of saucy banter and cheesy dialogue.

For tasty American fare, head to Paragon Restaurant for a sandwich and side.
Enjoy a low-fat or gluten-free meal at Paragon Restaurant, a local favorite.
Find the perfect vintage to complement your meal — Paragon Restaurant offers a fine selection of wines, beers, and beyond.
Gather up your friends, coworkers or family members and head to Paragon Restaurant for a group meal.
Reserve a table ahead of time and avoid the lines.
Enjoy the vibe here with a business casual dress code.
Turn your living room into a five-star restaurant with takeout or delivery from Paragon Restaurant.
Call Paragon Restaurant for catering if you have a big event coming up.
Whether you are looking for street or lot parking, Paragon Restaurant is close to both.
With prices below $15 per person, you can eat at Paragon Restaurant as often as you like!
Paragon Restaurant happily accepts all major credit cards as a form of payment.
The breakfast dishes at the restaurant really bring the crowds in, though lunch and dinner are also served.
No need to sweat your schedule — the restaurant is open 24 hours a day.

For home-style Filipino eats, you'll want to swing by Waukegan's Smc Pampanga Express.
Keep your diet in check with low-fat and healthy fare at Smc Pampanga Express.
You won't need to get a sitter before heading to Smc Pampanga Express — kids are more than welcome at this family-friendly establishment.
Patio tables and chairs are ready for Smc Pampanga Express diners who prefer their meals al fresco.
Whether you have a large or small group, Smc Pampanga Express can accommodate both.
You'll want to save quiet conversations for another spot, though — the restaurant can get noisy.
Smc Pampanga Express offers an informal dining experience for those who are allergic to jackets and ties.
Love the food so much you want to serve it at your next soiree? No problem — Smc Pampanga Express offers catering.
For easy dining, Smc Pampanga Express provides convenient parking in a connecting lot.
Cyclists are in luck. Smc Pampanga Express provides bike parking.
The food here is super budget-friendly, too, with most items costing less than $15.

Groupon Guide

Whether you want to indulge like a Beatle or buzz like a drunken bumblebee, Chicago has a root-beer float—title used loosely—to make it happen.
If You’re Feeling Nostalgic
Anna Held Florist and Soda Fountain Cafe | Edgewater
Located on the first floor of Chicago’s historical Pink Building, built in 1916, this combined flower shop and ice-cream parlor is also one part sentimentality. Gifts, knickknacks, and blooms decorate the space, but the main attraction for any dessertist stretches across the left wall—an old-fashioned soda fountain where jerkers mix scoops of Homers vanilla ice cream and Barq’s root beer in perfect proportion.
Margie’s Candies | Bucktown
Margie’s Candies opened in 1921, and not much has changed since. Visitors to the vintage corner shop can grab a foam-topped root-beer float at the counter before sliding into a mustard-hued booth—perhaps the same one where the Beatles or Al Capone once enjoyed their Margie’s treats.
If You Make Your Cheese Sandwiches on Artisan Bread
Au Cheval | West Loop
From its scrambled eggs with foie gras to its fried housemade-bologna sandwiches, Au Cheval does diner food better. The same holds true for its desserts and drinks—for a combo of the two, try the root-beer float made with Berghoff root beer, fresh from the tap, and malted vanilla gelato from the local Black Dog Gelato.
If You Want to Buzz Like a Summer Bee
Boiler Room | Logan Square
Tucked beneath the L’s California Blue Line stop, the Boiler Room draws in thirsty crowds daily with its PB&J special: a slice of pizza, a PBR tallboy, and a shot of Jameson for $7.50. Do something different—but still get two drinks in one—by ordering a boozy float made with Left Hand Brewing Company's Milk Stout Nitro and house Jameson ice cream.
Piece | Wicker Park
After a couple slices of thin, New Haven–style pizza and a sampling of Piece’s award-winning microbrews, keep the feast going with a slightly fruity float made with framboise and vanilla ice cream.
25 Degrees | Near North Side
A trio of “adult” floats help to wash down the gourmet burgers on 25 Degrees’ menu. The Beam ‘n’ Beer spikes IBC root beer and vanilla ice cream with Jim Beam rye; the Ruby Red blends Bruce Cost ginger ale with Pama-hibiscus syrup and vanilla ice cream; and the Orange Whipped hides a mix of Crush soda, Grand Marnier, and vanilla ice cream under a thick swirl of whipped cream.
If You Think Ice Cream Gets in the Way
Standard Bar & Grill | Wicker Park
Whether you’re celebrating a team win or trying to forget about a loss at this sports bar, sometimes Miller Lite is a little too Miller Lite-y. That’s when the root-beer float cocktail steps in with its satisfying blend of root-beer vodka, cream, Frangelico, and Coke.
The Solstice | Lincoln Park
The Root Beer Float is just one of the numerous creative martinis on the menu, along with the Carrot Cake martini, the Peanut Butter Cup martini, and the Key Lime Pie martini.

The bone-in berkshire pork chop won over our taste buds at Alpana Singh’s Boarding House in River North, even though the massive overhead art installation demanded our eyes’ attention.
Even from a couple of blocks away, you can see The Boarding House’s (720 N. Wells St.) enormous chandelier. More of an art installation, it’s made up of 9,063 wineglasses set above glowing lights, so it shines through the River North restaurant’s first-floor windows. When I visited on a cold November night, it was a beacon beckoning me into warmth.
The Boarding House is owned by Alpana Singh, who hosted the restaurant-review TV show Check, Please! for nine years. She’s also the youngest woman ever to pass the master-sommelier exam. This is her first restaurant venture, and it has been lauded for its food, wine list, and decor.
The decor, thanks to this massive overhead art installation, is the first thing that strikes you when you breeze through the doors. Museum-quality wire suspends the wineglasses upside-down above the lights, and it takes up nearly the entire first-floor ceiling.
After drinks at the first-floor bar, located underneath the twinkling glasses, my friend and I headed back to the hostess stand, where we were escorted to the elevator. The hostess ushered us in and pressed the No. 3 button for the dining floor, but she didn’t get in with us. The two of us rode up in eager silence.
It sounds dumb, but it was oddly exciting to take a private elevator ride. It’s amazing how such a simple thing can make you feel superfancy.
On the third floor, the doors opened up to another awe-inspiring chandelier/art installation—one made of nearly 4,000 green wine bottles. It dangled high above the diners’ heads from a vaulted ceiling. Outside the large bay windows, the cityscape twinkled.
Seated amid all the beauty, I tucked into an excellent entree, a bone-in berkshire pork chop with roasted butternut squash, mascarpone grits, butternut-squash aigre-doux, and sage.
Next came a seasonal pumpkin cheesecake bar and the oatmeal-raisin cookie sandwich. “It’s one of the things we’re known for,” the hostess downstairs had told us. Unfortunately, it was not quite so memorable for us.
Dessert may be hit or miss, but The Boarding House really nails the service. Our server chose our wine from the 450-bottle wine list, relying on nothing more than our vague instructions of “We like reds … cabs! And we want to spend around $40.”
She deftly pointed out things that she called “cab-esque.” Even though it was a little more than we wanted to spend, she said we couldn’t go wrong with the $48 Justin Vineyards cabernet produced by a master sommelier in California. She was right.
She also kept our bottle over at the sommelier station (our table was tiny), and came back to pour it for us whenever our wine dwindled. She was attentive but never disruptive. And she didn’t seem to mind that we stayed at our table for a good two hours.
We both enthused about the experience while waiting to get our jackets from coat check. While we piled on scarves and gloves and hats downstairs, a hostess asked how our meal was and somehow managed to sound interested, not just polite.
That friendliness, embodied by the whole staff, made dining at The Boarding House so positive for me—but the fantastic pork chop, velvety smooth wine, and the unique art installations definitely didn’t hurt.
Wine bar photo courtesy of The Boarding House; bone-in Berkshire pork chop photo courtesy of Jeff Schear Visuals